Mark 7:24-30
Faith of a Canaanite Mother
24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
When I go somewhere or to an event or party, I sometimes feel that I just don't quite fit in...It seems in different and varying groups of people, we feel either comfortable or uncomfortable at times...Now when it comes to Jesus, I personally feel that He fits in everywhere He went...He has the wisdom and knowledge to know what to say and do and be right things and be at home anywhere (if that is what He wanted)...He traveled a lot, never really staying in one particular place during His three year ministry...So He was all the time seeing new and different people...So while He always seemed to fit in or be in control of His situations, the people around Him did not always feel this way...The Canaanite mother was one case like this...She was not a Jew or a child of the Israel people...She was one who wore the scars of a people who the Israel people had expelled a thousand years ago...But she was a loving mother, and Jesus knew this, of course...
Jesus went to a town near Tyre and entered a house and did not want anyone to know where He was...But He could not keep His Presence a secret...In fact, as soon as a mother heard about Him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came -and she fell at His feet...The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia...She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter...She wanted His help and she was an outsider -not a Jew...“First let the children eat all they want,” He told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”..The normally very helpful Jesus had just said to the woman, it is not right for someone to take the children's bread...Was He being unfriendly to this Greek, born in Syria Phoenicia, who had fallen at His feet and was begging for His help?...These words might make her feel like the outsider she was...But whatever His response, she proceeded to continue to ask for His help...“Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”...She, in a way, said something that sounded like something He might say...Then He told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”...She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone...The Greek mother's persistence paid off...The mother had not ask for a loaf of bread, only the crumbs around the loaf...She not only ask once, but she ask again...Knowing she was an outside did not discourage her at all...Knowing she really did not belong there, did not bother her either...She was concerned over her loving daughter and ask again for His help...And when we pray, we might pray once, only to have to pray again and again for His help...Knowing her faith and her persistence, Jesus healed her daughter...The mother went home and found her child lying on the bed...The daughter healed by Jesus, was awaiting her loving mother...